I bought a 2003 PS extended van. 276,000 miles. Runs great. I just changed the oil and the top end oil as seen on youtube. To change the fuel filter does one go through the dog house for access? The procedure for the van I can't find. Here is what I'm envisioning is done.

1) Drain fuel bowl by pulling cable and hopefully catch diesel in pan.
2) Obtain access through doghouse and unscrew old filter.
3) Replace gasket?
4) Put new filter in, and prime bowl by doing WTS a couple times for visual confirmation that diesel has filled the bowl.
5) Put lid on tight and do WTS a couple more times to purge out air.
6) Start it up.

Sound good? or am I being too naive? I own a 1987 turbo diesel Mercedes and some of the concepts are the same, but there are plenty of differences. Last question. If air ever does get into the system what then? For my Mercedes I crack the injectors until the pump bleeds the fuel out. How about on the PS van? thanks for your help. BTW don't be afraid to spell it out, I floundered the longest time figuring out what WTS was referring to in these topics, so I'm quite new here. Have a good 4th!

For all the 7.3 diesel vans you get to the fuel filter from the front hood, not the dog house. You have to remove the entire air filter box (it brakes/cracks easy) and the hose leading to the CCV (hose that attaches to the air box). You can then see the round black cap where the fuel filter is. There is then some misc. wiring that has to be pushed to the side while you try squeezing the old one out and the new one in. If you see rust in the bowl, it would probably be a good idea to use a magnetic pen and take out the rust.

Whew that is pretty tight access. Thanks for the info and the tip. Anybody want to speak to the priming procedure and/or what to do if air does enter the system? Thanks in advance.

did you manage to change it? im in the proses of doing the same thing. i dont see how im going to fit my hands in there? and in my case i have to change some o ring in the fuel filter housing...i dont see how is this hapning...whoever designed the fuel filter setup need to be fired

did you manage to change it? im in the proses of doing the same thing. i dont see how im going to fit my hands in there? and in my case i have to change some o ring in the fuel filter housing...i dont see how is this hapning...whoever designed the fuel filter setup need to be fired

Just had it in the shop. I couldn't figure out why my turn signals kept dying. It wasn't the turn signal switch on the steering column that I had replaced without success. It turned out to be the blinker module in the dash. Also, had them replace the dash and climate control lights and fix a frozen rear door latch. The latch had to be replaced. A few little oddball fixes and I'm out $400. Sort of wish i would have done it myself but that blinker problem had me befuddled, so I guess it was worth it. Now I feel caught up on the little problems again.

Now that I have it back I want to get the fuel filter a try. Still am worried about getting air in the lines, since that is big problem with my Mercedes. Nobody here has mentioned what to do when that happens. It's been mentioned that I better get any rust out with a magnet, but since it is so far back I'm wondering how I'll know if there is rust in there. Maybe use a mirror and a flashlight? Well I hope it goes well. Towing this beast is an epic situation.

Also, I want to change the differential fluid. I think I may just take out the fill plug and suction out the old fluid. I'm worried about breaking bolts and sealing things right.

I do mine from the doghouse. remove the resonance chamber and reeeeaaacccchhhh way in and remove and replace filter. I don't drain filter housing, just remove and replace filter. As far as air entering the system, so far I'

OOOOOpppppppsssssss............ Somehow the send button got pushed. ?????????????
I don't worry about air entering the system. It just gets shoved thru and runs fine.....
Unless I'VE BEEN JUST LUCKY.................

Electric fuel pumps, so you just run the key if you run out of fuel till you're getting fuel. No injectors to crack open.

There is an electric pump on the fuel rail, but in the engine isn't there a high pressure pump? Also something to do with engine oil actuating the injectors. Anybody want to elaborate on this and why air in this part of the system is no problem?

Maybe there isn't any high pressure fuel lines like on my Mercedes. Get air in those lines and that is where the problems start.

Nope. Your Mercedes, Cummins, old Ford IDIs, Duramax's have a high pressure fuel pump which pressurizes fuel to 25,000 or so PSI, then hands it off to the injectors. Air can cause a problem here, especially if there's a lot of it. Electric supply pumps help this problem though, unlike the old mechanical ones.
7.3s and 6.0s as well as some CAT engines have a high pressure oil pump. The electric fuel pump supplies fuel in the neighborhood of 65PSI all the way to the injectors. The HPOP pressurizes oil from 500-2500 or so PSI which travels through the heads, to the top of the injectors, then hits a plunger and intensifier piston, which then hits the fuel in the lower chamber of the injectors and then the 65PSI fuel is injected at the 25,0000PSI like other diesels.

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